Defence News India: India’s steel, mining and power sector conglomerate OP Jindal group Monday announced its entry into domestic manufacturing of small arms. Jindal Defence, which is a part of $25 billion OP Jindal Group, entered into a joint venture with Brazilian small arms and helmet manufacturer Taurus Armas SA to produce small arms in the country.
Abhyuday Jindal, promoter of Jindal Defence said that the company’s collaboration with Taurus Armas S.A. will support self-reliance in strategic small arms manufacturing to further strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme – Make in India.
The joint venture agreement was signed at the first Brazil-India Defence Industry Dialogue of the India-Brazil Business Forum (IBBF), organized by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in association with three leading industry lobby bodies – ASSOCHAM, FICCI and CII.
The IBBF forum is part of a business exchange programme hosted in honour of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro‘s official visit to India to participate in the Republic Day function.
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This year, India hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as chief guest for Republic Day function. Mr Bolsonaro was accompanied by a large business delegation as the two countries are working towards increasing cooperation in both defence and trade.
India and Brazil are also part of India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) forum, a multi-national body to promote south-south cooperation and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) forum to increase cooperation among major emerging economies.
Both the countries are also trying to shore up their cooperation in strategically important defence sector as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been working to ensure the safety and security of the country by forging new partnerships.
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The joint venture between Jindal Defence and Taurus ARMAS of Brazil will boost cooperation between the private defence manufacturers of the two countries.
The agreement proposes setting up of a joint venture company at Hisar in northern state of Haryana. While Jindal Defence will hold 51% share in the new company, Taurus Armas S.A will hold remaining 49% share.
The joint venture company will manufacture small arms such as handguns, pistols, machine guns under transfer of technology from Taurus Armas as per the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP).
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Abhuday Jindal said: “The JV company envisages creation of world-class infrastructure along with adoption of best manufacturing practices to achieve perfection in design and engineering, and achieve high quality standards.”
“Moreover, with the technological expertise emerging with this JV, we aim to support the emerging demands of the Indian armed forces,” he said.
The partnership between Jindal Defence and Taurus Armas SA is aimed at taking advantage of opportunities available in the domestic market as the Modi government has embarked on a modernisation drive for Indian armed forces by developing domestic manufacturing capacity.
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